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Orbit Airlines Flight 5502
Orbit Airlines Flight 5502 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport (now Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport), Atlanta, to Newark International Airport (now Newark Liberty International Airport), Newark. On 4 January, 1984, the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 operating the flight, crashed in to a highway intersection, in severe weather conditions and fog, short of runway 4 right, at Newark Airport, destroying a bridge and killing all 181 passengers and 14 crew, plus 11 on the ground. This was the second and deadliest accident involving a Orbit Airlines operated plane, the first accident in it's history occurring just two weeks before. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the crash was caused by pilot error, on the captains side, because of using violent and incorrect ''techniques to line the plane up with the runway, causing the plane to stall and ultimately crash. They also concluded that after the maintenence had been done at Atlanta, maintenance crew had failed to install it before letting the airplane fly again. Accident '''Departure' At 8:52 PM on the evening of Wednesday, 4 January, the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 took off from Atlanta enroute to Newark Airport. The Captain on the flight was 49-year-old Handley Johnson and 38-year-old First Officer Willy Price, both very inexperienced in the Newly bought DC-10. Also onboard was 45-year-old Flight Engineer Douglas Simpson who was familiar with the DC-10, because he had worked with another airline who had the plane before Orbit Airlines, this was also his first flight with Orbit and this crew. The plane had suffered delays because of weather and maintenance. The crew that had flown the Airplane in from Mexico City had reported that their ILS (Intrument Landing System) instruments hadn't been working properly when they had landed, and that it was giving them false readings. This had should have been fixed by the maintenence crew. The weather along their route was very bad, so further delays were expected. The plane had already been delayed for 2 hours. Preperation for landing The weather over New York had turned worse and fog was starting to form. This was not good news for the pilots. Captain Handley then made the decision to do an ILS approach and take over manually just before touching down on the runway. At 9:48 PM they initiate the descent into Newark and they are cleared to 4000 ft (1229.2 m). 35 minutes later they get cleared to capture the localizer for runway 4 right, but as the plane nears the ILS beacon, First Officer Willy Price notices that the ILS isn't showing up on his instruments, nor the Captains. Captain Handley then asks ATC (Air Traffic Control) for a lower altitude and directions to the airport, so that he can get a chance to see the airport. ATC denies his request for a lower altitude, because they don't know the problems with the planes ILS system. They do though, give them directions to the airport. The F/O can now be heard saying: "I thought they had fixed this damn problem." And the F/E answering: "They should have. Anyway this seems to be worse!" A strong wind now throws the plane around and Captain Handley respons with violent rudder and aileron movements. Both First Officer Willy Page and Flight Engineer Douglas Simpson knows that this could be dangoures, but they say nothing about it. Crash At 10:25 PM they report the runway in site, but they can only see the PAPI-light and not the runway lights. The lights had been destroyed by the weather and only the PAPI-lights could be seen. Lights on the ground could not be seen because of fog. Then a sutten wind bursts in to the side of the plane, and the Captain again responds violently. The F/O then yells: "Speed!" And the stickshaker comes on. The Captain Applies full power and pulls the nose up, further decreasing their speed. The CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) then picks up the sound of the plane hitting a light pole and turning on it's left side. The plane then slides 300 feet down the northbound lanes and the right wing hit's a bridge going over the highway causing it to collapse. The planes right wing then explodes and the plane erupts in flames. All passengers and crew died and 11 people on the ground are dead. Of the 206 people that died, 15 of them where children. Mostly between 5 and 12 years old.